Spiraling Down
by Tari Silmarwen
Summary: A fight against Mad Mod and his hypnotized minions goes horribly wrong. Rob/Star
1. Dragged Away

(A/N)- 'nother Whumptober fic, and boy was this one fun! :D

So originally this fill for the prompt "Dragged Away" was just kind of a stand-alone. Stuff happened, there was danger and peril, but then there was a last-minute save and everyone was all right.

But then the very evil part of my brain was like, "Okay but... what if... not?"

So I wound up adding another prompt to the list of the ones I was doing, basically making that fill a sequel to this one, and reworking my idea for "Stitches" to be a follow-up and conclusion.

I'm actually really proud of how it all came out.

Anyway, I won't keep you from things any longer. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am so ready for a hot bath, anyway I still don't own Teen Titans.

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**Dragged Away**

The hypnotized horde descended upon them, crowding around the Titans with surprising speed. The others were momentarily lost to her sight, their startled yelps ringing out in the large open warehouse space.

"Careful!" Robin's warning shouted above the chaos. "Remember, they're just civilians! Try and get the hypno-glasses off their eyes! And watch out for—"

He cut off with a cry and whatever he meant to say was left unfinished.

Starfire ducked under the arm of a balding middle-aged man in an apron and jeans—A cook maybe? A woodworker?—and made a grab for the oversized goggles strapped on his head.

The lenses were crushed with the barest pressure from her fingers and the man stumbled back, looking around and blinking in a daze.

"What the—?"

Starfire was already busy with precise starbolts, taking aim at the blank black faces of the hypno-glasses on the throngs charging her. It was slow-going work, Starfire having to stop and evade attackers and dodge around their pressing bodies in order to have room to steady her hands.

Nearest to her, Raven seemed to have realized the same dilemma. Gritting her teeth as she kept up a shield barrier in front of her face, holding back the pounding fists of a tall tanktop-wearing woman, she managed to meet the Tamaranian's eyes.

"Starfire!" she called, shifting her feet for a sturdier stance. "Can you buy me some breathing room?"

Starfire glanced forward reluctantly at the pair of teenage boys she was grappling with, and beyond them to the curly-haired grandmother and the smartly-dressed businessman.

"Oh I hope you all forgive me," she apologized, before stepping back, letting the teen boys fall to the ground. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin, duck!" she yelled.

She gathered starbolt energy to herself and then let it explode outwards.

Bodies flew several feet. Some hypno-glasses dislodged upon their impact with the ground. She cleared a space about twenty feet in diameter all around her and Raven, and Raven quickly had her hands raised and was chanting her mantra.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Dark tendrils burst from her hands and snaked all around the room, snatching glasses here and there until every mind there had been freed.

Raven staggered and dropped her tendrils, wobbling a little on her feet.

The civilians darted looks at the Titans and each other in confusion. Murmurs floated around the room.

Cyborg raised himself from the floor, dusting off his arm. He flipped on his scanner, hovering it over one of the fallen hypno-glasses.

"These things have gotta be receiving transmissions for Mad Mod to direct them in coordination like that," he thought aloud. "Maybe I can reverse trace the signal."

"We don't necessarily know this was him," Raven pointed out, stepping over.

"Come on Rae," said Beast Boy. "This has Mod written all over it."

Starfire couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. She floated up a little ways above the crowd, looking this way and that, and then gave a horrified scream.

_"Where is Robin?"_ she cried.

The other Titans alerted with quiet gasps.

-TT-

His feet were sliding against the floor as he was pulled along and he couldn't get them back underneath him. Robin strained his arms against the hold they had on him, fighting the grip of several hands dragging him backwards.

"Get _off_ me!" he yelled, thrashing. "Get off!"

The hypnotized civilians didn't respond, moving robotically. Taking him away from the main storage room. Away from the other Titans.

As he pulled against the hands on his arms Robin felt a twinge of anxiety creeping up his back.

He was being deliberately separated from his team.

That was never good.

They dragged him down the long hallway, Robin's boots skidding for purchase all the while.

Emerging into another room, the men holding him finally stopped, yanking him upright. Robin started calculating the best method to fight free without actually hurting any of them, but approaching footsteps had his head jerking forward to see.

"Well hullo there my little snot," said an eerily calm Mad Mod as he stepped from the shadows in the doorway. He stood tall and collected, his cane held behind him, in the younger more youthful version of himself—Who had he drained this time, Robin wondered?

Robin narrowed his eyes fiercely, glaring as the villain stepped up to stand in front of him.

"Mod," he growled. "Whatever you're planning, you won't get away with—"

The cane flashed out from behind Mad Mod's back, slamming into Robin's diaphragm mid-sentence. Robin curled inward reflexively, his face screwing tightly, winded, all the breath leaving him.

He finally managed a strangled gasp.

"You know…" Mad Mod said, something dangerous and threatening and vaguely unhinged in his words. "I'm really tired of you always mucking up my plans."

He gripped his cane again, a murderous look shooting at Robin.

"Getting in the way."

Robin braced himself just in time for the hard strike to his face; it snapped his head to the side.

"Making everything difficult."

Another blow, harder this time, crashing against Robin's cheek with an explosion of pain that made his head ring.

Robin struggled to pull himself up straight. The hands around his arms pinched as firm as ever, and he was almost grateful they were holding on so tight, because it seemed unusually hard to stand for a moment.

He faced Mad Mod with a brave expression, even as a twinge of nervousness danced through him.

"In the end it always come down to you, doesn't it?" Mod was hissing, venom dripping from his words.

"So what? You take me out of the equation? Separate the Titans from their leader in hopes they fall apart without me?" Robin challenged, determined not to be cowed. A smirk played on his lips. "Haven't you already tried that tack before?"

Mad Mod wagged a finger at him. "Ya don't mess with the classics," he said. A devious gleam lit in his eyes. "Besides," he continued, "there's a bit of a nice twist on this one."

From behind his back he produced one of the hypno-glasses.

A cold jolt ran through him and Robin's eyes widened.

"This time," Mod said, expression vindictive and triumphant, "you're gonna be working for me."

He started to approach.

Robin pulled himself backward, struggling against his captors. His thrashing earned him a hard wrench on both arms.

"Hold 'im still lads," Mad Mod ordered, holding up his cane and pressing a button on the side. The red jewel-top glowed.

A harsh kick to the back of his knee collapsed Robin's legs, forcing him to kneel. His head was yanked back. The hands crushed his arms with bruising pressure.

Robin squirmed in place, his breaths shortening as Mad Mod loomed over him, the hypno-glasses in his outstretched hands.

The internal lenses were flashing with the villain's signature psychedelic screens.

He strained to move but he was pinned in place from all sides, only able to watch with fear-filled eyes as the goggles came closer, and closer…

"NO!"

A bright green beam bisected the space between them, knocking the hypno-glasses out of Mad Mod's hands. Starfire came screaming through the air from the right, her eyes furiously aglow.

"Leave him _alone!_" she shouted.

She body-checked Mod from the side, sending him flying towards the nearest wall. Her grasping hands began clawing the hypnotized civilians off Robin.

"Oh no ya don't!" Mad Mod yelled.

Another tap on his cane and panels in the walls slid open, revealing dozens of the villain's robotic police bobbies.

They took aim immediately, laserfire filling the air. Starfire crossed her arms in front of her face as she was forced to float backwards to evade. A black shield sprang up, Raven absorbing most of the first volley before her focus broke and her projection faltered. Cyborg and Beast Boy came rushing in on cue, engaging the robotic henchmen.

In the distraction, Robin managed to get an arm loose. With a quick twist and a jab to an elbow, he broke free.

He didn't have much time for relief. A robot bobby was directed his way by Mad Mod; it reached down and seized his throat.

The metal fingers squeezed tightly, cutting off his air.

Robin's face twisted. His hand fumbled in his belt.

He found an explosive disc and, heedless of anything else, threw it towards the bobby's head.

_BAM!_

The concussive force made the robot release him and topple over, headless. Robin staggered a few steps and dropped to his haunches, coughing.

He shook his head, trying to clear the ringing in his ears before he looked back up to assess the battlefield. Where was—?

A scuffle from behind was the only warning he had before something was shoved roughly onto his head.

Robin saw swirling black and white circles and frantically flashed his hands up to push off the hypno-glasses. He felt Mod's hands behind his ears holding it down, holding it in place, pressing with a violent force.

"Easy lad," the villain's voice whispered, hideously close. "Don't fight it."

His fingers clawing, his head shaking, Robin's hands pushed against the hard edges of the glasses for several moments more, and then… stopped. Hesitated.

Something was… dragging at his thoughts…

Slowly, slowly, his hands slipped off his temples… and dropped to his sides.

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(A/N)- Y'all are so lucky I'm uploading the full arc in one go instead of leaving y'all on this cliffhanger like when I first posted it.

SO many scandalized reactions it was great.


	2. Unconscious

(A/N)- Chapter Two! Let's see how I fix things from the last chapter, lol.

Prompt for this one was "Unconscious".

Disclaimer: Ah nope! Still don't own the Titans. Drat.

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**Unconscious**

He floated, thoughtless, in a sea of white and black.

All his senses were numb except…

He thought he could hear voices.

_"..wayfrom… don'thurt… getthemoff…"_

They were far away at first. Indistinct. Blending into each other. But something in his mind… recognized them.

And once he did, they seemed to get louder.

_"__—on'tlethimget__—! Stop! Robin, no!"_

One voice sharpened from the others, pulling at him, tugging his thoughts from the void.

_"Robin!"_

A girl, calling his name. Frantic-sounding. Terrified.

His heart gave an odd wrench at hearing her. He felt like… he needed to comfort her somehow. Protect her from whatever she was afraid of.

_"Robin, please!"_

Pleading. She was pleading now. With effort, he tried to turn towards the sound of her voice, slogging through what seemed like a thick mud in his brain.

The other voices started to separate.

_"Robin, it's us! Don't listen to Mod!"_

_"Dude come on! You gotta fight it!"_

_"We're trying to help you, man! Just hold still!"_

He knew them. He _knew _he knew them. What were their names?

He could feel the void pressing down on him, a melodic song lulling him back, urging him to sink back down into dull oblivion, where these questions wouldn't bother him. But he pushed against it, concentrating on the voices and straining his mind for the names that went with them.

**_Robin._**

He started as one of the voices seemed to echo inside his head, immediately close.

**_Follow my voice, Robin. Find your way out. Fight it._**

Along with the voice, there seemed to be a… _presence._ Another mind, floating alongside his. He reached out, finding a tether somehow in the featureless void.

**_Fight it!_**

The voice yelled at him, urgent. The tether gave an insistent tug, straining to draw him closer, feeble feeling compared to the slog pulling back at him. He almost let himself sink again.

_"ROBIN!"_

The shriek jolted through him, breaking the mire's hold. He strained towards where he thought the girl's agonized cries were coming from, his thoughts growing clearer and sharper by the moment.

He had to get to her. He had to get—

Starfire. Her name was Starfire. And she—

Robin's eyes snapped open with a gasp. The moment he recognized the spiraling black and white spirals in front of his vision his hands leapt up, snatching the hypno-glasses and wrenching them off his head, hurling them away in horror and disgust.

They clattered against the stone floor, lenses cracking from the force.

Robin stood there, breathing hard, adrenaline coursing through every part of him.

For several moments the only sound was his labored panting and his heartbeat loud in his ears.

He looked up. The Titans stood around him, with matching wide-eyed worried looks. Further back were bewildered civilians. Robin recognized one or two of them as the men who'd held his arms. Mad Mod was nowhere to be seen, though that wasn't surprising. His contingent of robot henchmen were fallen and scattered hereabouts on the floor, broken and sparking.

His body was still vibrating. His mind adjusted slowly to the shock of being pulled so abruptly from his brainwashed trance.

Seeing his haunted expression, Starfire stepped up.

"It is okay," she told him softly, slipping her hand into his. "You are awake now."

Her warm fingers were an anchorpoint tethering him back in reality, and his relief released in a long exhale.

"Did—Did I hurt—?" he stammered.

She was already shaking her head. "We are all right." She cringed, touching a hand to the back of his shoulder, where she could see blood leaking from a tear in his cape. "I fear you are not, though."

Raven stirred at that, starting to walk up, raising her hand. Seeing the haggard lines of her face, however, Robin stepped back, shaking his head.

"Save—save your energy to find Mad Mod," he told her.

"Robin…" she groaned, her features flattening in aggravation.

"Starfire can patch me up back at the Tower," he insisted.

Raven huffed. "Fine. But you're going _straight_ there, _now_." She glanced back at the other two. "We'll take it from here."

"Ohhhhh no, no way, are you kidding? I'm going back to the Tower with them," Beast Boy said, thumbing at Robin and Starfire. He shook his head. "I don't need to be anywhere in range of those goggles getting put on my head with how susceptible _I_ am."

Robin gave a short laugh. "That's actually… really good thinking," he admitted. He paid Raven and Cyborg a serious look. "Good luck."

"Just get that shoulder cleaned up," Raven groaned. She pointed a stern finger at him before she turned to walk away. "And I _will_ be checking in on you later."

Cyborg flashed a reassuring grin as he followed the empath. "We got this, Robin. Don't worry."

Robin could only manage a half-hearted nod.

Once the other two were out of range, he turned to Starfire, taking both of her hands.

"Star, be honest with me. Don't… don't try to spare my feelings," he begged her. "Did I hurt you?" He glanced briefly towards Beast Boy. "Any of you?"

She shook her head again, very firmly. "Robin I would not lie to you."

He squeezed her fingers tightly, trembling, staring at the floor. "I heard you scream… and… and I thought… I thought something had hurt you," he mumbled.

"Honestly Robin, I think we hurt _you_ more than you hurt us," Beast Boy piped in. "And Star was screaming 'cause it looked like Mod was gonna escape and take you with him for a minute there."

Robin shuddered, a sober chill passing down through him. He tried not to imagine how long he would have been in that white, empty void if _that_ had happened. Would he have even woken up again?

"Thanks for stopping him," he said quietly.

Beast Boy put up his hands. "Was all you, dude. You stopped responding to commands and we were closing in so he had to just scramble."

Well. That was encouraging to know. At least Bruce's lessons on telepathic resistance counted for something.

Robin smiled faintly, weaving his fingers together with Starfire's. It figured it would have been _her_ voice to pull him out of the darkness.

"Come on," she encouraged gently, dropping one of his hands to lightly take his elbow. "We should return to the Tower now."

"Yeah, before you bleed out," Beast Boy agreed, morphing into a hawk to fly on ahead of them as they turned towards the exit.

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(A/N)- THE POWER OF LOOOOOOOVE.

Sue me I'm a sap.


	3. Stitches

(A/N)- Aaaaaand part three! Heavier on the aftermath of whump—and RobStar cuddles. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Ho hum, still not owning the Titans.

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**Stitches**

Robin bit down on the knuckle pinched between his teeth as the needle slid underneath his skin, squeezing his eyes shut.

Starfire worked as quickly as she dared while still being careful and meticulous, threading the needle back and forth, slowly sealing up the wound. The painkillers and local anesthetic had only just started to kick in, so for the first several jabs Robin _felt_ the needle pinching, and willed himself to keep from squirming in discomfort.

Starfire ran the thread bit by bit across the whole slash, knitting him back together. She pinched the end once she was done, knotting it firmly and then pulling the needle free with a solid yank.

Robin dropped his hand, letting out a breath. His fingers curled on the edge of the examination table.

"I think Beast Boy needs to trim his nails," the quip escaped him. He tried to look over his shoulder to see. "Was that it?"

"I believe so," Starfire said, stepping back and giving him a once-over. Robin's arms were bruising a bit, purple fingerprints blossoming up his wrists and elbows from where he'd been restrained, but there were no other cuts or claw marks aside from the one on his shoulder.

She picked up his shirt and tunic. "Please raise your arms," she instructed, coming around to stand in front of him.

"I can get it," he insisted, reaching for them.

She held them away from him, out of his range. "I know, but I do not wish for you to pull one of your stitches. So please, do not argue."

He chuckled but complied, extending his arms. She slipped the clothes on him gently, taking care around his shoulder.

Once she stepped back Robin reached up and adjusted the hem.

"We should get back to work," he said, standing up from the table. "Mad Mod's cane can't be the main transmitter for the mind control; it's not big enough, it couldn't generate enough power to—"

He'd already been walking towards the door, mind far ahead on the task at hand. A gentle grip closed around his wrist and stopped him.

Robin glanced up at Starfire, surprised.

Her gaze was soft. Understanding. But there was a stern edge in her eyes.

"It is your turn to be honest with me," she said. The hand on his wrist drifted up his arm, lifting to cup his cheek. Her large green eyes were full of concern. "Are you okay? Truly?"

Robin had an instinctual reaction to brush off her worry… but when he opened his mouth the words wouldn't come. His eyes stayed locked with Starfire's.

His throat tightened.

He swallowed thickly, dropping his gaze. "I don't… " He trailed off with a trembling exhale. "I… I know it wasn't… wasn't me but…" Unexpected heat burned in the corners of his eyes and he blinked it away furiously, shaking his head. "I never wanted to be used against you like that again." His right hand squeezed into a fist. "And I just… _let_ it happen," he said, his voice cracking on the words.

Both of Starfire's hands were on his face now and she was gently raising his head. "_No_, Robin," she chided. "Do not say that. You resisted. You fought your way back. You have a stronger will than any of us."

The words sent warmth through his heart. Robin's fist loosened and his hand drifted up to rest on Starfire's wrist.

"I guess… I'm still a little shaken," he admitted.

She nodded. "Understandable." Her forehead leaned against his. "But you are safe now." She pressed her lips to his nose affectionately, before withdrawing with a smile. "_Now_ we may return to business."

Robin's mouth twitched with a hint of his own smile. Talking to Starfire had lightened something inside him, and he followed her with confidence as she led the way out into the hall.

-TT-

Beast Boy popped up from the couch the moment they entered, a grimacing, apologetic look on his face.

"Dude, I am _so_ sorry," he said.

Robin waved him off. "It was an accident, Beast Boy."

The changeling rubbed a hand behind his neck. "I mean… it kind of wasn't?" he said. "Like, I wasn't _trying_ to gouge out your shoulder I was aiming for the headstrap and, well…" He trailed off uncomfortably.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Robin told him seriously. "You were only trying to help." He glanced past Beast Boy towards the main screen. "Any news?" he asked.

"Oh yeah!" Beast Boy perked, swiveling around and grabbing the remote up from the couch cushions. "You're gonna wanna see this dude. It's… well, just watch."

Curious, Robin and Starfire came around to his side, as he turned the volume up on the TV.

Cyborg was on the screen, the point of view from Raven's communicator it looked like. He alerted to the open channel.

"Robin," he said. "We traced Mad Mod's transmissions here."

The view swiveled upwards, flashing a quick glimpse of a high metal radio tower.

"JCKB radio station?" Robin's brows wrinkled in thought and he nodded. "Makes sense. They have a British drama program every Friday evening." He crossed his arms. "Have you—?"

"Disabled the signal? First thing we did," Cyborg assured him. "We searched the place for Mod." His expression changed. It looked as though the half-robot was trying very hard to contain his laughter. "Found him pretty quickly, and a bunch of formerly-hypnotized civilians who were uh—" He smothered a chortle. "Let's just say, _not very happy_ with him."

He waved the offscreen Raven closer.

"It's—it's better to see it."

Starfire and Robin leaned in closer as Raven moved the camera to point towards the front gates of the station. A throng of people were clustered around something, limbs flailing, objects in their hands raising and coming down, discontent shouts rising up from them.

The words got clearer as Raven stepped closer to the action.

"Hypnotize _me_ will you! I outta—"

"—had a lasagna in the oven! If my house isn't on fire right now—"

"I was supposed to pick up my kids _hours_ ago you bastard!"

The indistinct mass resolved into at least a dozen or more individuals, some with push mops and cleaning supplies from the janitor closet, angrily wailing on a curled-up and quite pathetic Mad Mod on the ground between them.

"Now hold on—Just a—Ow!" the man was protesting weakly, one hand raised against the assault.

"I missed the Tigers game for this?!" an indignant young man with a cleaning bucket bellowed.

He brought the bucket down on Mod's head with a funny-sounding _thwack!_

"OW! Bloody Americans, why are you always so violent?!" Mad Mod yelled, curling both hands over his head and neck now.

"Viva la revolution!" shouted a girl in response, to enthusiastic agreement from the mob.

Robin had been staring at the screen in shock for several moments but finally burst out laughing. He nearly doubled over, clutching his stomach as he guffawed himself breathless.

Next to him Starfire let out a little giggle, and Beast Boy grinned broadly.

"Yeah I don't think he'll be trying that plan anytime again soon," he joked.

Robin couldn't recover. All his previous anxiety and fear melted away into his laughter like water spilling from an uncorked bottle. His sides shook. He gasped between outbursts.

"Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha—ahh!" he yelped suddenly, feeling something pop on his back. He straightened up at once, his laughter cutting out.

"Robin?" Starfire called in concern.

The Boy Wonder held his shoulder with a frustrated grimace. "Argh, I think I pulled a stitch," he told her, his face squeezing.

Amused, she asked lightly, "Shall we return to the medbay?"

"No no, it's fine, it's not bad, I don't need—" Robin started to brush her off.

"Medbay! Now!" Beast Boy interrupted loudly, pointing towards the door. When Robin didn't move right away he walked forward, hooking an elbow through Robin's arm and starting to drag the boy along. "Don't be stubborn, _jeez_," he complained.

Robin flailed a moment but got his feet back under him. He pointed back towards Starfire as he allowed Beast Boy to guide him towards the door.

"You're recording this for me right?"

"Of course," she promised.

His grin was blinding as he and Beast Boy disappeared through the door.


End file.
